Changing customer needs and emerging competitors demand dynamic customer value proposition changes to sustain growth. Over time, competitors can duplicate unique capabilities or service offerings resulting in market commoditization. This requires constant product/service differentiation – innovation – to enhance value.  Ask yourself:      ·  What are our product/service pain points?      ·  What…

Human behavior is complex, as are the situations in which people find themselves. This is especially so when working globally and integrating across boundaries and diversity. Global leaders process large amounts of ambiguous information, and then must translate this information into creative solutions for complex problems. The cognitive ability (and global leadership) required to run…

Many people do not take the time between emails, meetings and deliverables to pause and think. There is something to be said about an intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract and articulate the key lessons taught by an experience. This is a powerful mechanism behind learning. Learning from direct experience can be more effective if coupled…

There are three primary stages to innovation:      1.  Perform: Improve efficiencies with known approaches      2.  Expand: Broaden market segments, offerings      3.  Create: Define new business model which will reshape an industry The majority of innovation falls into Stage 1, where there are projects with inspiring names (i.e., Phoenix, Aurora), usually…

Global Leaders work with different cultures across national boundaries and varying time zones, then deal with international regulatory differences. During all of this, they are also called on to cross-pollinate better practices across all geographical units! This requires the leader to “know thyself” culturally. First, he/she figures out what is acceptable “here” – the enduring…

Industries have changed…48M of 137M workers in the US can be classified as knowledge workers (Source: McKinsey Quarterly). The percentage of the knowledge stored in your own mind that is needed to do your job has decreased from 75% in 1986, to 15-20% in 1997 to 8-10% in 2006 (Source: Carnegie-Mellon University).  With this decentralized…

Often, in art, the most creative are those who come up with new perspectives. For example, Brancusi broke away from Rodin & Picasso broke away from the Impressionists. Touring the Museum of Modern Art in New York City with a group of business leaders, we came upon a suspended shovel.  There was great debate regarding…

As companies continue to expand to reach new customers/increase revenue and valuation, they need to build capacity to scale and support/drive that growth. Some keys for that growth include: –Focus on immediate opportunity: focus on near term gains –Seed other regions: incremental approach that nurtures large and long-term opportunities that can scale rewards –Do not…

Executives identified growing regulatory pressure from governments across the world as their top risk (Source:  KPMG Survey).  In the US, there are significant new compliance requirements (Dodd-Frank for financial services, Affordable Care Act for health care industry, etc.). Businesses must fundamentally change their operating model, as they build systems, processes and controls to comply with…

Does your company use executive education as a strategic tool? Reward? Preparation for promotion?  The Journal of Management Education (February, 2000) stated the purpose as:      ·  Recasting the worldviews of the executive teams and aligning organization to new directions      ·  Building awareness and support for strategic transitions      ·  Facilitating…